Terry Francona still going by the book

Feb. 5, 2013
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Terry Francona, who won two World Series titles with the Boston Red Sox, has written a book about his eight years with the team. After taking a year off Francona will manage Cleveland this upcoming season. / Kim Klement, US Presswire

by By Reid Cherner
USA TODAY Sports, USA TODAY

by By Reid Cherner
USA TODAY Sports, USA TODAY

In the near future, Terry Francona will take one of his joy rides -- the trip to spring training as another baseball season begins to unfold.

And then he'll do his "favorite thing in the whole world" and that is preside over a Major League clubhouse.

Francona, the new manager of the Cleveland Indians, will be bringing along a couple of things with him.

There will be the two World Series rings he earned in Boston plus the 12 years of managerial experience he earned previously with the Phillies and Red Sox.

But he'll also have two resume items that even he didn't expect to have. He's now a former member of the media and he can call himself an author.

After parting ways with Boston in 2011, Francona took a year off saying "I really needed it." His stint as an analyst with ESPN was not shocking since many coaches and managers are odds-on-favorites to land behind the mic.

More surprising was "Francona: The Red Sox Years" ( Houghton Mifflin Harcourt) the book he co-authored with Boston Globe columnist Dan Shaughnessy.

And perhaps most surprising is how brutally honest Francona was about his time in the Boston fishbowl.

His tenure included the highest-high, the first Red Sox title in 86 years and the lowest-low when a collapse kept the team from the playoffs that led to the manager's ouster.

Worse were stories of clubhouse rebellion ‚?? eating chicken and drinking beer during games ‚?? and what Francona felt was the biggest betrayal of all, the leaking of private and personal information on him.

But the manager says the book was not written for revenge and points out although he was a "little worried when the excerpts came out" because they are always the most controversial. But he believes much of what he wrote was positive about his time in Boston.

"I read it seven times before it came out," Francona said. "I wanted it to be a good book and I'm proud of it."

Although the decision to leave Boston was partially up to Francona he does believe that perhaps ownership and fans may have not appreciated what was accomplished in his eight years there.

Upon hearing of the positive culture change that happened when Bobby Valentine was hired as his successor, Francona wrote "when somebody takes over it's always going to be bigger, better, newer. I grew weary of that . I wanted to put rings on both fingers and say 'we were a little above average.' "

Ironically, he's now the guy bringing bigger, better and new to Cleveland. "I only hope there are expectations," Franconia says about coming in with two titles on his resume.

Francona, who followed his father Tito into the Major Leagues as a player, is self-proclaimed baseball lifer whose best days come inside the clubhouse.

He was a manager who enjoyed interacting with the players from playing cards to taking them down when they needed it.

As a minor league skipper he managed Michael Jordan. Francona writes that after he missed a shot in to lose a pick-up basketball game, Jordan told him "I always take the last shot."

To which Francona fired back "now you know how I feel when I watch you try to hit a curveball."

When Manny Ramirez was accused by opposing catcher Yadier Molina of stealing signs, Francona told home plate umpire Chuck Meriwether that is was impossible because "Chuck, Manny doesn't even know our signs."

Francona chuckles over those stories but makes it clear that he had the back of every player he manages. "If you were in my clubhouse you deserved respect."

And when he realized it wasn't reciprocal it was time to pack his bags.

"I think the chicken-and-beer stuff turned out to be more of a metaphor for our team," Francona wrote. "‚?¶.I was most disturbed by the idea that stuff wasn't staying in the clubhouse. They weren't protecting each other‚?¶That group, they had gained my trust. Well, they probably took advantage of it in the end. They needed a new voice."

The manager says those critical of him for breaking the first rule of "Fight Club" by talking about it, there is and that there was nothing in the book that people were not advised of prior to publication. He even took out some things that would have made people uncomfortable. "I would never embarrass anyone."

He and Shaughnessy contacted everyone who was included in the book but says not everyone chose to reciprocate. He includes an email he sent to owner John Henry after he refused to talk to the authors.

"Hello John. I can't tell you how disappointed I was that after eight years together and what I thought was mutual respect you chose to not even respond to my email. I guess I know now where I stand with you. Good luck. Tito."

So now, he comes full cycle back to a team that both he and his dad played for. Back to a city that has fond memories and a place he coveted when the job became open ‚?? "I only wanted the Cleveland job. I would have stayed with ESPN otherwise."

And most appealing to him a place where he can shut the door and now close the book.